PREVIEW: Blue Jackets welcome Kings for Monday matinee

If you’re an optimist, you can look at all the scoring chances and the edge in puck possession the Blue Jackets had in Saturday night’s 5-4 overtime loss to Utah and feel pretty good about how the team played on balance.

If you’re a pessimist, you can look at the glaring mistakes – goals allowed on a breakaway and a 2-on-0, and a miscommunication that led to the OT winner – the Blue Jackets made and feel like the team cost itself an important point in the standings in the middle of a playoff race. 

And if you’re a coach, well, you’re probably going to focus on what needs fixed, and that’s the mood CBJ head coach Rick Bowness was in after putting his team through a half-hour practice Sunday. 

“We lost a point because we didn’t pay attention to the details,” Bowness said. “We haven’t defended as well since we’ve come out of the break as we were before the break. So yeah, we get a point, yeah, we’ve won games. I think we let a point slip there (against Utah) because of not paying attention to the details and not defending as well as we had earlier.  

“So that’s disappointing, but clearly we could have won the game with the chances that we created, but the mistakes were so blatant, right? We haven’t seen those, so you just address those and we have to clean that up.” 

Columbus had another bit of cold water thrown on its parade Sunday when Boston and Pittsburgh, two teams the Blue Jackets are chasing in the standings, went to overtime before the Penguins claimed the victory. 

The combination of results has left the Blue Jackets three points behind the Bruins for the final wild card spot and four back of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. It would have been worse, though, if the Blue Jackets hadn’t battled back from a 4-2 deficit with seven minutes left to earn a point against the Mammoth thanks to two goals from the team’s top line in 30 seconds that sent a sellout crowd in Nationwide Arena into hysteria.

That fightback – as well as the literal fight seconds later in which all five players on each team squared off – showed this continues to be a resilient and dedicated bunch. 

“It’s a good point,” said forward Mason Marchment, who scored the tying goal against the Mammoth. “It’s a good comeback. We really turned it on there in the third, and that’s good to see. I mean, it’s never easy to come back in this league and get that point. It’s huge, but we put ourselves there and we’re better than that.” 

A difficult stretch of six games in nine days continues tonight as the Blue Jackets face Los Angeles this afternoon in a game that was rescheduled from Jan. 26, when a blizzard dumped a foot of snow on Columbus and forced a postponement.

It will be game two for trade deadline acquisition Conor Garland with the Blue Jackets, who have points in 16 of the last 18 games (14-2-2).

Scratches: Danton Heinen, Dmitri Voronkov, Jake Christiansen, Egor Zamula 

Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)     

Roster Report: Bowness said Fabbro could return after missing two games with a lower-body injury, likely going into the lineup in place of Zamula, while there didn't appear to be any other changes as the team went through its Sunday practice.  

This Day in CBJ History

March 9, 2001: Deron Quint notches a hat trick – the second in CBJ history and first by a defenseman – and Robert Kron scores a shorthanded goal in overtime as the Blue Jackets capture a 7-6 win at Florida in the highest-scoring game of the inaugural season.   

March 9, 2004: Columbus trades an original Blue Jacket, dealing wing Geoff Sanderson to Vancouver for a third-round pick in the 2004 draft. The Blue Jackets also acquire center Brian Holzinger from Pittsburgh for Lasse Pirjeta.   

March 9, 2013: Sergei Bobrovsky earns his first shutout as a Blue Jacket, stopping 30 shots in a 3-0 home victory vs. Detroit that extends Columbus’ win streak to four games. Cam Atkinson, Vinny Prospal and Nick Foligno score, while Vinny Prospal is assessed a 10-minute misconduct in the third period after pointing at the scoreboard in the midst of a discussion with a Red Wings player. 

March 9, 2024: Daniil Tarasov ties his career high with 47 saves but the Blue Jackets drop a 2-1 matinee final to Nashville in Nationwide Arena. 

March 9, 2025: Adam Fantilli notches his second career hat trick, scoring three goals in a 7-3 victory against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Jackets break a 3-3 tie by scoring the last four goals, with Dante Fabbro and Mathieu Olivier each posting a goal and an assist. 

The Numbers Game

Mathieu Olivier is set to play in his 300th career game. ... The Blue Jackets have points in 12 of their last 13 home games (9-1-3). ... Goalie Jet Greaves has an 8-0-1 record and .915 save percentage in his last 10 appearances. ... Zach Werenski is the only NHL defenseman with at least 20 goals (20) and 60 points (65) on the season, tying for second among league blueliners in goals and placing third in points. Werenski has points in 22 of his last 25 games (11-24-35) as well as 33 of his last 39 (16-38-54). He leads NHL defensemen in multipoint games (21, tied for 10th overall in NHL) and has a 9-12-21 line in his last 13 home games. … Kirill Marchenko (4-9-13) has points in nine of the last 10 games. He is two goals from 100 in his NHL career and three assists from 100 as well. ... Charlie Coyle has 10 goals and 24 points in the past 18 games as well as a 6-13-19 line in the last 12 contests, ranking him seventh in the NHL in points in that span. He has a five-game point streak. ... Adam Fantilli has goals in five of the last six games and posted a 6-8-14 line in the last 12 games. ... Olivier has eight goals in the last 11 games, one shy of the NHL lead since Jan. 28, and notched his first career Gordie Howe hat trick Saturday. ... Damon Severson also had a Gordie Howe against the Mammoth, marking the first game in CBJ history where two different players had a goal, an assist and a fighting major. Severson has a goal and four assists in the last four games. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 46 goals this season, the most in the NHL. … Columbus has scored the first goal in 24 of the last 31 contests and is tied for the league lead by scoring first in 39 of 62 games overall. ... The Blue Jackets are 5-1 in shootouts this year. ... Miles Wood and Danton Heinen are each one goal away from 100 in their NHL careers. ... Boone Jenner has 203 career assists, one behind David Vyborny for third most in team history. ... Cole Sillinger is set to play in his 348th career game, breaking a tie with Ryan Murray for 20th place in CBJ history. 

Know The Foe: Los Angeles Kings

Head coach: D.J. Smith (First season)        

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.56 (30th) | Scoring defense: 2.90 (9th) | PP: 16.8 percent (27th) | PK: 75.3 percent (28th)    

The narrative: The Kings have made the playoffs four straight seasons but lost in the first round in all four, and this year’s squad is battling to make it five in a row as it sits three points behind Seattle for the final wild card spot. It hasn’t been smooth sailing in Hollywood this year, as the Kings have made some major changes throughout the season, none bigger than the firing of head coach Jim Hiller on March 1. The acquisition of Artemi Panarin should bolster one of the league’s more anemic offenses down the stretch, but the Kings’ 25 wins are tied for just 27th in the league. 

Scoring leaders: One of the NHL’s most consistent performers over the past few seasons, Adrian Kempe leads the way with a team-high 53 points, including 23 goals and 30 assists. Kevin Fiala is next with 18 goals and 40 points but suffered a season-ending leg injury at the Olympics. Defenseman Brandt Clarke, 22, is third on the team in scoring with 34 points (eight goals), while Quinton Byfield has 16 goals among 29 points and Panarin has a 1-5-6 line in six games since joining the squad.  

In net: Darcy Kuemper has started a team-best 39 games, going 15-13-9 with a 2.72 GAA and .896 save percentage. Anton Forsberg is the backup, with the former Blue Jacket posting a 10-9-5 record, 2.70 GAA and .904 save percentage.   

What's new: The Kings have been tinkering with the squad throughout the year, sending veteran center Phillip Danault to Montreal early in the year and acquiring Panarin from the Rangers to add much-needed scoring help. At the deadline, LA traded sixth-leading scorer Corey Perry to Tampa Bay and acquired Scott Laughton from Toronto, not to mention the recent firing of Hiller and hiring of Smith. The Kings are 1-2-0 since he took over and have struggled since the calendar flipped, going 9-10-5 in 2026. 

Trending: The Blue Jackets snapped a four-game losing skid in Los Angeles on Dec. 22 with a 3-1 victory. Columbus has points in eight of the last nine in Nationwide Arena (5-1-3) after last season’s 3-2 OT victory Jan. 25.   

Former CBJ: Forsberg signed a two-year deal with the Kings this offseason after five years in Ottawa.